A library full of quality reading will expand your child's vocabulary as well as develop his powers of imagination. Books that are sensational or simply try to hold your child's interest through incessant action will not prepare him to carefully observe and be captivated by fine literary description. Books akin to the style of Beatrix Potter rather than Dr. Seuss should form the bulk of your early childhood reading. Books that draw one to see the deeper meaning behind fantasy should also be used. C.S.Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia captivate the imagination and give the mind opportunity to develop its powers of interpretation by seeing the Christian themes that Lewis weaves into his tales. Great literature requires an attentive reader who takes notice of the small as well as the grandiose in human action.

Give your child literature that draws from a broad historical background. American pioneer stories alone will not suffice for a well-rounded literary diet. Look for literature that will stretch your child's historical comfort zone. (Greenleaf Press has a fine selection of literature to help you in this area-www.greenleafpress.com.) Historical literature that grabs your child's imagination will help them love history; however, organizing history through the memorization of dates, geography and significant personages will give your child a framework to understand and categorize the images that captivate his mind. A good knowledge of ancient Greek and Roman history as well as mythology will keep your child from being susceptible to historical vertigo when reading ancient literature.

The study of ancient language at a young age will put your child years ahead of those of us who have had to face the daunting task of trying to force our aged minds to assimilate the information needed to master the ancient tongues. Greek or Latin will not only familiarize your child with the word roots that will allow him to break down the larger vocabulary demanded by the great books, but they will also provide him the rare privilege of reading many of the great books without having to rely on a translation. Many readers think Greek and Latin are just for the scholarly elite; however, there are many pleasurable and fascinating insights into most texts provided by a knowledge of their original tongue.

Using the trivium as a pedagogical guideline will help you avoid many of the pitfalls arising from poorly planned curriculum. The trivium divides education into three stages; grammar (memorization), dialectic (logic) and rhetoric (persuasive communication). These three stages will help guide your emphases at each stage in your child's education. Please see the Trivium Pursuit homepage (http://www.muscanet.com/~trivium) or the Canon Press page ( http://www.moscow.com/Resources/Credenda/canon/catal.htm ) for more information on this important aspect of an effective classical education.

The great books are not a course of study for the spineless Christian. Unless you have a zealous desire to engage the ideas that you find in the great books and vigorously bring them under Christ's authority, your faith will be slowly compromised out of existence. Any Christian wanting to study the great books will need to develop of faith of sufficient maturity to meet the challenge the books provide. Most of my students have grown up with a healthy dose of apologetics and Christian worldview thinking. Because classical education demands that we evaluate and critique what we read in the light of the Faith, it is crucial that children know what Christians believe as well as their standards of conduct. In addition to teaching your child how a Christian ought to live, he needs to know the answers to such questions as; "Who is God?", "How can we make ourselves acceptable to God?", "What is sin and why does God hate it?", "Why did Jesus need to become a man?" The ultimate goal of Christian great books education is the development of a vibrant Christian understanding of our culture, past and present. In order to prepare our children for this task, they need to know how a Christian thinks as well as how a Christian acts.

Even though classical education often intimidates rather than invites the novice, learning to have a broader cultural understanding will not only provide a wealth of mental delights, but will also reaffirm your confidence that the Biblical worldview provides a persuasive picture of the world within which we dwell. Classical education does require more work than other approaches; however, as with most other labors wisely exerted, from the salt of sweat comes sweet satisfaction.

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